Last night Suzanne and I went for a walk with Amia. She loves being outside, looking at the sky, and then falling asleep. First we went to the playground to take her down the slide. There was a couple there with a little boy. We start talking because the little boy is just enamored with Amia. He keeps asking his parents if he can giver her a hug, tries to give her a kiss and ends up blowing her one, then caresses her cheeks really, really gently. It was soooo sweeeet. As we start talking with the parents all these similarities come out. Their 2 year-old boy is named Elihu (I think that's how you spell it), which is the old version of Elijah. That's the name we would have given Amia had she been a boy. Then they ask where we're from and it turns out the husband and I are both from Chile. I was born about 2 hours south of where he lived. He grew up in Glen Ellyn, the town bordering the town I grew up in, Wheaton. He speaks so-so Spanish, has a Middle Eastern name AND his mother is a Baha'i. I couldn't believe it. They were such a fun couple. They're both musicians, he a jazz guitarist, she a jazz singer and stay-at-home mom. They invited us over to their big Evanstonian house and we're hoping to go on Friday after lunch. It's so easy to meet people here.

The second thing is that I saw the season finale of Deadwood, a show on HBO. It's a Western. I'd have trouble making a general recommendation for the show. It's profane, graphic, explicit...and genius. The writing is perhaps the best writing I've ever seen on TV. And the finale of season 1 ranks up there with the 4th season finale of the Soprano's for me. The depth and complexity of the characters, the writing, the pure and raw emotion the actors are able to summon, they're all just amazing. I'd have to say those are the 2 best things I've ever seen on TV. With those 2 shows, plus Six Feet Under, I'd have to say that if I could just get HBO and not any other channels I would pay some serious coinage.

This weekend some dear friends and family came to visit. It'd been too long since our last visit, but we made up for lost time. Catching up, good food, and swimming. It was all there.

When we went to the pool on Sunday it was Amia's first time in a pool. On the whole I think she really liked it. There were some points, as with many things, where she has a look like, what is this? Why am I doing this? Is this fun? Momma, can you help me out here?

And this picture I feel a little guilty about. She likes lemons, up to a point, and always reaches for them, but I can't say I didn't know she was going to make this face and that I didn't want to capture it on film.

She did it! She walked last night! She took 4 steps on her own! Suzanne was predicting that she'd be walking by my birthday (next month) and it seems like that might be the case. Anya and I were saying that in two months Amia will be able to go jogging with Suzanne in the mornings. We'll see if that comes true.
Oh, and guess what made her walk? Her mother's hopeful eyes? Her dad's outstretched hands? Nope. The computer. Yes, her first steps were to try and be on the computer. It's definitely a new time.

We don't have any pictures of her walking, but this is what she looks like when she stands, which she clearly derives great pleasure from....as she does just about everything.

First Anya MET ZACH BRAFF FROM SCRUBS! Can you believe. I still can't. I can't believe he was only 1 mile away! I'm not usually into meeting celebrities, but one from one of my favorite shows? That would have been something. This whole experience reminded me of when I could have met one of my other favorite celebrities.
I used to work at this awesome coffeehouse in Normal, IL. Not much happened there. Except that on one of my days off NATALIE MERCHANT came to have coffee. And as this was before cell phones my coworkers couldn't get a hold of me. They knew my love for her music, but alas it wasn't meant to be. And after I stopped working there Ani Difranco became a regular when she was in town. Aargh.
I'll have to be content with my celebrity experiences. I once saw Andy Warhol on the street as we drove by in a taxi in New York City; I think I may have seen Dave Mathews riding his bike in Chicago (maybe not his, but a bike); Isabel Allende signed one of my books of hers; Ray Bradbury signed the copy of Dandelion Wine that I own jointly with Erik, and signed it for both of us; and my crowning moment, I shook Mr. T's hand and he said God Bless You in that rough voice he has.

Also that day we got this picture in the mail. It's from the lovely Lizington Davis.
Parenting tip #5--It's fun having friends who are good with the photos.

I took my dad to the airport Saturday. I'm proud of him. He's gone to Angola for the next 6 weeks. If you've seen the town he grew up in, Wayne, IL, you'd see exactly how far away Angola is.
Amia's progressions have been steadily developing. She can stand longer, walk farther (still assisted), pee in more appropriate places than ever before. She can even take tiny bites of apples.
Amia may have commenced teething on a new front tooth. Hence the 4 am wake-up call this morning, my nearly entering a dream-state driving home from work, and my dry-eyes (when I get tired my eyes dry up like a Frito).
Now for some photos.

Like my dear friend Jessica, I too think this may be the best sight in the world. It's like iTunes--you can preview songs and by them for $.99 each. And it's done by the Smithsonian, so you can search the ENTIRE WORLD and the money supports local musicians. You can search by locality, ethnic group, or instruments in the music. They have individual Indian nations, the native peoples of Japan, Gullah, just about everything, and some of it's pretty old. I even heard some native music from Chile from the 70s. Amazing.

Last Sunday night Amia slept for 12 HOURS. She must have been so worn out from the weekend. But almost every night this week up until last night she's been teething. Getting her two fangs. That means fussiness and wierd sleep cycles. During the day sometimes she would look at us while she was doing something, cry for 2 or 3 seconds, then stop and go back to what she was doing. I think the pain must have been coming in stages. And at night she woke up at 1 then at 4, for varying degrees of length. Sometimes just a couple minutes, like when she said Mama Baby, and sometimes for more than an hour. Luckily Anya was here to help Wednesday night, when Suzanne and I were completely exhausted. It was so surreal that night. I was up and playing with Amia but seriously almost falling asleep every couple seconds. I couldn't keep my eyes open and every time they closed I would dream a little, but just for a second. I'd never experienced that before. But thankfully the worst seems to have subsided for now. Her teeth must have broken through finally.

One of my favorite scenes in the amazing movie Waking Life is the one about holy moments. The one man is talking about how we rarely allow ourselves to have holy moments with each other, where we look each other in the eyes and see each other for who we truly are, for the beautiful things that we are. They then proceed to have a holy moment, where they just look at each other. And see. Then the one man begins to cry from the beauty of it. This is not a post about that specifically, although that is such a rich topic. More this is about what I've been trying to do lately, specifically with Amia and Suzanne.

As Amia grows older and bigger BY THE MINUTE, I'm realizing how soon 20 years from now will come and she'll be a completely different person, with a whole new set of thoughts, ideas, and actions that will amaze me. I don't want to look back at my time now and realize I wasn't paying attention from this time to then. So, as I've gone about my time with her I've been trying to have holy moments, where I see her for all that she is and try to imprint it on my brain. Like Saul, trying to whisper memories of my children's future.

The same with Suzanne. We're still at the beginning our our life together (considering we have the rest of eternity to be together). I'm beginning a career. She will be soon. Very soon our lives will become increasingly complicated, with more children (not for several years at least), more jobs, more...entanglements, like house payments, and such. And our time together is, many times it feels, so fleeting and precious. Those lovely moments when we can be together and have holy moments. That's the kind of baggage I want to carry with me through life. And I'm realizing how consciously I have to be in packing those bags.

Last night Amia stirred in her sleep and woke up for a second. When she's really tired and doesn't want to be awake, that's pretty much the only time she cries. So she started crying a little then I swear she said, "Mama Baby". What do you say to that?

Yesterday during the day we fulfilled one of my dreams of being able to walk around downtown Evanston. It was so fun! Then Suzanne had a yoga class while Anya, Amia and I walked around this beautiful neighborhood and marvelled at the houses. How fun it must be to live in one of those huge, intricate houses. Then I sold some old CDs, and went to this great little clothing store and found a Thai restaurant that has outdoor seating UPSTAIRS so you can look down on the street and you're almost eye-level with the trains going by. Then, we went to Feast for a little until Amia was ready to leave, and then went to the house of some wonderful friends who were celebrating the passing of a major stage in their lives and got to spend time with TRULY WONDERFUL, LOVING, AND JOYOUS friends. It was so nice. The only problem is that Amia's bedtime has been getting earlier and earlier and Amia was very ready to go by about 9.

Then this morning I RODE MY BIKE INTO CHICAGO. It's that close. And the entire trip was along the lake. Then, we went to Lincoln Park Zoo with two friends that we really admire, love, and love to listen to and talk with. On top of all that we got to see the new gorilla baby, who did many things surprisingly similar to things we do with Amia. Aside from grooming her hair and taking stuff out of it, the carrying and nursing were refreshingly similar.

Now I just got done with a 1 hour nap and Suzanne is making Indian food for dinner. Things are good.